Page:The Victoria History of the County of Surrey Volume 3.djvu/690

 A HISTORY OF SURREY

��Lady Mary Evelyn, 1696, Lady Anne Evelyn, 1669, and to other members of the same family, also to An- thony Balam, February 1691 2, Mary infant daughter of Sir William Glynne, bart., 1692, and other later slabs, besides some modern mural tablets. Several ancient brasses were removed to the new building and are now affixed to the walls. One at the east end of the north aisle has the figures of a man in a long fur gown and his wife, both with their hands in prayer. The inscription below reads : ' Hie jacent Rofctus Castelton armig? unp justic' dni Regis ad pacem in Corn Surr ac Clicus ptitor' in SCcio eiusde dni R apud Westffl et Elizabeth ux9 eius qui quidem Rofctus obiit XXIII die Decebr an dSi millmo V c XXVII cujus anime propicietur Deus Amen.'

Below are the small figures of their six daughters; but the indent only remains of the sons. There is also a shield with their arms, on a bend three roundels (? buckles).

By the side of this brass is another of a knight and lady of the Elizabethan period, but it has no inscrip- tion.

On the south wall of the chancel is a brass inscrip- tion which reads :

' Here lieth Maist' John Haymer M. of Arts and late pson of this chirche of whose goods was dispende an C Mck. among pore people and upon highways nere unto this town and w'in the same on whose soule Jhesu have mercy.'

John Haymer was rector of the church from 1492 to 1535. These are the only antiquities preserved in the church, which is a well-built structure, one of the last designs of the late George Edmund Street, and contains some good stained glass. The pulpit is of stone, the font of green and white marble. Two bells hang in a cote above the chancel arch.

The churchyard is fairly large, having evidently been augmented when the new church was erected ; it contains many graves, and there are some large trees around it, especially the older part at the south end. A new lych-gate stands at the entrance to the north, by the road.

The communion plate consists of a silver cup dated 1659 but without a hall-mark, a stand paten with the hall-mark of 1770, 'The gift of a worthy person to the parish of Long Ditton,' a large silver flagon of 1715, a smaller cup and stand paten of 1894, and a salver of 1856. The first book of the registers is a parchment volume containing baptisms, marriages and burials 1564 to 1655, the second is a large paper book with baptisms 1659 to 1812, marriages 1659 to 1752, and burials 1658 to 1812 ; the third is a paper copy of part of the second book, from 1695 to 1710 ; the fourth has marriages from 1754 to 1793, and the fifth continues them to 1812.

There is also a book of churchwardens' accounts and vestry minutes dating from 1663, but it gives little information as to the repairs to and state of the fabric ; there were many repairs carried out in 1675, and mention of three new bell-ropes and mending of the wheels in 1676. In 1680 is an entry giving a list of the communion plate as follows: ' (1)2 flaggons

��of pewter, (2) I chalice of silver with a cover to it of silver, (3) 2 pattons of pewter, (4) a faire surplice, (5) a table Cloath of Holland.' The list is continued with later items : ' (6) a large coffin the gift of Mr. Ro. Pocock, rector, (7) a large carpet of green cloath for the Communion table, (8) a faire green velvet cushion for the pulpit, the gift of Mrs. Sarah Pocock, the wife of Mr. Ro. Pocock, rector A.D. 1690, (9) a faire piece of plate to put the Communion bread on in the fashion of a patten or Pattison, being the gift of Mrs. Sarah Pocock, the wife of Mr. Robert Pocock the present rector, Aprl 1696, (10) a Com- mon Prayer Book, the gift of Madame Sophia Glynne wife of Stephen Glynne, esq., given in August 1696, (l l) a velvet cushion with a cloath round the pulpit a rich fringe about it of crimson colour lined with fine silk, 1699.' It would be interesting to know whether in the sixth item the word ' coffin ' represents a coffer or chest, or whether it is really a late example of the common coffin used for the burial service of poor persons who were interred simply in their grave clothes.

In 1716 George London, gent., gave a large Com- mon Prayer Book for the Communion Table ; in 1720 John Willis, Virginia merchant and citizen of London, gave a rich green velvet furniture for the pulpit laced with a broad gold lace, and a cushion of the same, for which the parishioners erected a new pulpit.

In 1715 is a note of the anonymous gift of a silver flagon. In 1778 the vestry decided to pull down and rebuild the church, but no information is given as to the progress and cost of the work, except that in 1779 the rector complained that the work was still unfinished and money unobtainable.

A church existed at Long Ditton ADPOWSON at the time of the Domesday Survey. 116

The advowson was claimed by the Prior of Merton at the end of the 1 3th century against the lord of the manor of Long Ditton as having been granted by Peter de Talworth to the Priory of Mer- ton and confirmed by King Henry the elder. 117 The Priors of Merton presented until the Dis- solution, but did not appropriate the church. 118 Edward VI granted the advowson of the rectory to David Vincent 119 and the advowson then followed the descent of the manor of Long Ditton. Anne Evelyn, widow, presented in 1662 and 1665."

Sir Evelyn Alston sold the advowson to Sir James Clarke in 1 7OO. 111 An Act of Parliament was passed in 1753 for the sale of the advowson after the death of the Rev. Joseph Clarke, 1 " and it was then sold, according to Manning and Bray, to Mrs. Pennicott. George Elers, as a trustee for Mrs. Pennicott, pre- sented in 1750,"* but he with Mary his wife sold the advowson in 1 767 to New College, Oxford, " 4 to which it still belongs.

Smith's Charity, which amounts CHARITIES to about 30 a year, is distributed usually in clothing. Bishop Willis's Visitation in 1725 mentions land called Kingswood leased for relief of the poor. This is not the estate upon which Smith's Charity is now charged.

��"6 V.C.H. Surr. i, 317.

"7 Assize R. Surr. 876, m. I (7 Edw. I).

118 Egerton MSS. 2031-3.

119 Pat. 6 Edw. VI, pt. iv, m. 45. o Inst. Bkt. (P.R.O.).

��U1 Feet of F. Surr. Trin. 5 Geo. 1. According to Manning and Bray it was sold in 1719 to Dr. Joseph Clarke, the rector. In 1714. Robert Coleman pre- ented ; Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).

$22

��laa Manning and Bray, Surr. Hi, 20. Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.). " 4 Feet of F. Surr. HiU 7 Geo. Ill ; Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).

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